Dr.Maria Montessori began her career as an educator of children working with a group of fifty children, three-to-five year old, on January 6th, 1907 in the City of Rome. She had at her disposal an untrained assistant, a room, a bit of furniture and developmental materials to aid sense perception which she had previously used when working with mentally retarded and physically handicapped children. Those children had to be encouraged to show their interests was aroused. Once enticed to use the materials, their attention was volatile. Dr.Montessori was astonished to see that the little ones, however, were intensely attracted by the materials, working spontaneously and repeatedly with them in total concentration.

Being a scientist, Dr.Montessori observed and responded to this phenomenon of spontaneous work generated by the apparatus. Little by little, through the experimental process of trial and error, she created a highly specialized form of apparatus to the child which afforded a source of profound satisfaction. In addition, she provided an environment suited to and respectful of the children's inherent characteristics, "the prepared environment".